Manny Wins, But Did He Really?

[Mr Lee]

Maybe it is time for him to go out with his head held high. Anyone have comments on the fight? Pacquiao decisions Marquez Philippine national boxing icon Manny Pacquiao escaped with a majority decision over Juan Manuel Marquez to retain his WBO welterweight title Saturday (Sunday Philippine time) at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.Pacquiao and Marquez battled closely for 12 rounds with both future Hall-of-Fame boxers having their moments, but the eight-division world champion came out the winner in the eyes of two of the judges who scored the fight 115-113 and 116-112, while the third saw it even at 114-114.

Round-by-round: Pacquiao-Marquez III Round 1: Both fighters are looking noticeably bigger than they were in their first two meetings. Marquez is looking to measure Pacquiao using the right jab, while the latter is using his straight left. They end the round with a good exchange but Pacquiao is able to evade most of Marquez' punches.Round 2: Marquez able to get inside Pacquiao's defense and tags him with body shots. Pacquiao manages to land a left hand and is using lateral movement to evade Marquez's punches. Marquez landed more shots than Pacquiao in round 2.Round 3: Pacquiao was able to hurt Marquez in the closing seconds of round 3 with a series of hooks. A powerful right hook from Pacquiao shakes Marquez, but the Mexican was able to survive the barrage.Round 4: The 4th round sees a series of exchanges between the two fighters. Marquez was able to land a left hand, but he opened himself up for a right hand from Pacquiao. The two clashed heads midway through the fourth round but no cuts were opened on either fighter.Round 5: Marquez's face has begun to swell as Pacquiao tags him with straights. Pacquiao is looking to land a strong punch, but Marquez was able to hit him with a straight right to the face. Marquez once again staggers Pacquiao with a series of punches late into the round, and Pacquiao seems to be getting frustrated.Round 6: Pacquiao bounces back in the 6th round as he was able to hit Marquez with inside punches nearthe 1-minute mark of the round. Marquez does not allow Pacquiao to take control, however, as he hits Pacquiao with right hands of his own.Round 7: Marquez hurts Pacquiao with a strong right to the body early in the round. Pacquiao has been unable to hurt Marquez so far in the fight as his punches are not landing clearly. Marquez has been outboxing Pacquiao so far in this fight, but Pacquiao was able to put a barrage of punches together late in the round.Round 8: Pacquiao is looking to land a good punch, but Marquez is still frustrating him with good counterpunching. Pacquiao still has not found a rhythm in the fight so far, and Marquez is pulling away on the scorecards.Round 9: Pacquiao is already bleeding due to a split lip. Marquez now seems to be in a good rhythm as he tags Pacquiao in the body early in the round. Pacquiao looked to pick up the pace midway through the round as he starts to catch Marquez with a barrage of punches. Both fighters exchange punches late in the round but Pacquiao still needs to catch up.Round 10: Marquez is seemingly more tired than Pacquiao as he clinched early, but he recovered and catches Pacquiao with a right hand. Marquez's face is swollen, but he was willing to slug it out with Pacquiao in the 10th round. Pacquiao is still bleeding from the lip, but he manages to catch Marquez with some strong punches late in the round.Round 11: Pacquiao is still looking to find his rhythm, but he was able to catch Marquez with strong punches early in the round. Pacquiao was unable to hurt Marquez, but the latter is looking winded.Round 12: Pacquiao has a cut above his right eyebrow. Pacquiao looked to win the last round as he swung punches wildly, but he was unable to land clean shots on Marquez. Edited November 13, 2011 by Mr. Lee
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[Art2ro]

It was nowhere near the 114-114 score by the 3rd judge! It was an overall 115-113 score for Pacquiao IMO, even though it was a lack luster and boring fight between the two fighters! Too bad! I wanted to see at least a few knock downs, but it ended up just being a technical sparing session in the Art of "how to avoid from getting hit too hard", because their Mama said so! :mocking:

[MikeB]

I watched it live and thought Marquez won. I watched it again and was more convinced. He was physically bigger and stronger and seemed to throw the more meaningful punches. Although Pacquiao was the aggressor, most of his punches were wild and landed short allowing Marquez to effectively counter punch. I was surprised to see that Pacquiao threw and landed more punches by the Compubox numbers, although not by much. But scoring in boxing is by rounds and is completely subjective. I could somewhat agree with the judge who had it even but the one who had it 116-112 for Pacquiao should have his license revoked.

[Garpo]

It was a close fight but Pacquiao was going forward and was the more aggressive fighter. It is typical of Pacquiao to get hit with solid punches in exchange for his 2 or 3 hits in return. Two judges that gave it to Manny got it right in my opinion.

[JJReyes]

It is possible Marquez won the fight. The important rule in boxing is the win has to be decisive to dethrone a champion. Marquez failed to do this. He should stop complaining.

[MikeB]

It is possible Marquez won the fight. The important rule in boxing is the win has to be decisive to dethrone a champion. Marquez failed to do this. He should stop complaining.

There is no such rule. If he won the fight he should have been awarded the victory regardless of who had the title. May the best man win. We can all agree it was close but one judge had it 116-112. What was he watching? I think there was something more onerous going on. A Marquez victory would have derailed a huge payday with Mayweather. Boxing is a cesspool and you need look no further then Pacquiao's own promoter. What do you expect from a sport controlled by the likes of Arum and King.

[JJReyes]

Unlike other sports where a win could be one point or being a nano second faster, scoring a boxing match has a subjective element. It is more like judging an art contest or who is a better singer. Whether the scoring was rigged is another matter.

[ekimswish]

When I watched it from 40 feet away from the tv in a Filipino store in Taipei, drunk, I thought Marquez won. When I downloaded and watched later, up close and sober, I'm convinced Manny deserved a 115-113 score. I watched it close and any round I was on the fence about, I gave to Marquez automatically. The thing is, Marquez landed some of the clearest shots of the fight, but only because Manny wasn't hiding in a shell. If Marquez opened up half as much as Pacquiao, he would've left on a stretcher. Everytime you throw a punch, you're opening yourself up, and if not for Manny being WILLING to be hit, there would've been no action. I must say that Marquez won his select rounds a lot more clearly than Pacquiao won his. Also, the crowd was hugely pro-Marquez. If you watch it, Pacquiao slipped and blocked a ton of big counters by Marquez, but the crowd roared for Marquez anytime he threw them. Made it sound like he was landing them, which he wasn't. I will say this in defense of Marquez: he was closer to a win in the second fight. That one I could've scored a draw, or even one round either way.

Edited November 21, 2011 by ekimswish

[Garpo]

I have watched the fight three different times now and the first time I felt it was a draw, the second time I felt that Manny won by two points, the third and last time I watched it, I was even more convinced than the previous two. I agree that the crowd was very much in favor of Marquez so it was easy to think that Marquez was landing more punches than he actually was.